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RenimLS
Posts: 114 Location: North America |
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Not sure if you're suggesting that The Executioner and Her Way of Life does not take place in a post apocalyptic isekai scenario, but the series definitely does take place in one. There is a good reason they have efforts to prevent an apocalyptic scenario, and that's because they know very well what happens when they don't try and prevent it. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2606 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I wasn't 100% sure based on just the first episode, but that makes a lot of sense. I still think I prefer Goodbye Otherworld's approach to the subject, but it is nice to have that confirmation. |
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Florete
Posts: 363 |
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I'm a novel reader and you're basically wrong on all accounts except for Momo (and when it comes to the author, which I can't speak on). I'll spoiler for safety but everything here is pretty minor: spoiler[Lost Ones are killed because they've proven to be too much of a threat, causing literal genocides in the past. One such genocide is seen in the first episode...and it's caused by a girl, who is then killed. I've read two volumes of the novel, and in that time the dude who is killed at the very start is the only male Lost One to be seen, and the others are not exactly universally good characters. Being an executioner is also not at all presented as heroic. Menou calls herself the villain and laments that she has to kill Lost Ones, acknowledging that they don't deserve any of this. This is seen, again, in the first episode, after she kills the first guy. The cast is basically all-female, yes, but that includes the protagonists and antagonists.] It's ironic that you'd call yourself "ThatGuyWhoLikesThings" yet not even watch literally one episode before passing a negative judgement. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11348 |
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Exactly what I was thinking, with a little Kanna from Kobayashi standing in for Tanaka. I think I'm enjoying this so far, but I'm still having to work to get past Aharen being not just short, or just shy, or just socially awkward, but all of that plus being on an emotional/intellectual par with an unsocialized 8 year old. I think I'd be getting some pedo vibes from this if not for Raidou's deadpan non-reactions when confronted with her eccentricities. It also helps that his character design totally hits the sweet spot for me. It's the sort of pleasant blandness that makes me want to hang out with him just chillin' on the rooftop. The main thing missing from this kick-off was the sense that there was anyone else in their world. The teachers, classmates, and pedestrians seem to be completely unaware of their existence (and vice versa), so when they do all this bizarre stuff, no one is there to comment or bat an eye. Because the OP was so stuffed with a variety of supporting characters, I kept waiting for the two to interact in some way with someone besides each other, but except for the arcade worker who got 3 seconds of screen time, and Raidou's sister who doesn't know Aharen at all, no one ever did until the very last second (and even she only observed). Anyway, if they don't lose the thread or start repeating jokes, I'm in for this. I've already seen Kotaro Lives Alone With His Found Family, and I do recommend it! |
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Engineering Nerd
 Posts: 898 Location: Southern California |
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Yes, The executioner and her way of life is really just a bait-and-switch which should not be reading too much into it, although I have to admit, the execution part could be much better since the show made it too obvious to have any shock value, not nearly as good as Talentless Nana's first episode in terms of how similar they want to achieve that effect.
I am curious how many western viewers are aware of the various (quite hardcore actually) historical references in Ya Boy Kongming! , have you read the book or know a reference or two from video games? (I personally felt like cheating since I was living in Mainland China and Japan during my childhood and Three Kingdom is a must-read title in elementary and middle school) It should be noted that the story is not only an aspiring rising -from-bottom tale of Eiko, but also a story of salvation of Kongming as he trying his hardest to basically getting the most of his second life (think of a reverse Jobless Reincarnation) PS: For the viewers who may have concerns, so far there is NO romance elements in this series. This is a music show that will give you plenty of pleasant surprises, well-timed comedies and motivations, if first episode grabs you, please consider to put this in your watchlist. 
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1008 |
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Having finally decided to sit down and actually watching Executioner's premiere, I came out of it not hating it, but still somewhat unimpressed, and I think it's largely because of this. Talentless Nana wasn't even 2 years ago (and I just recently finished rewatching the show as well, so it's even more vivid in my mind) and had basically the same formula and twist for it's first episode, although I think it pulled it off with more efficiency and was better at pretending to be a different show entirely. I think it helps that a lot of Nana's motivations and background and the intentions of those she's working for are largely kept a secret in that first episode, so you're just left to stew in the shock of the moment, whereas Executioner lays a lot of it's cards down on the table from the beginning, who Menou is, why she's doing what she does, and throws a lot more information at you, which isn't an inherently worse approach by any means, but I think the former just hooks you in better. I feel like I get what Executioner is about, which doesn't give me the greatest of motivation to continue more (and honestly, it would've worked perfectly fine as a singular OVA or short film), but Nana left me wanting to know more about it's titular character. Also I just think Nana is way more fun as a character Last edited by ThatGuyWhoLikesThings on Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:14 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Florete
Posts: 363 |
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I don't think it was going for a similar effect. Talentless Nana goes all-in to pull a fast one on the viewer; the marketing doesn't show its true face and the reveal is the climax of the first episode. On the other hand, read any synopsis for Executioner and it talks about Menou and Akari, not this random boy (and since it's commonly advertised as yuri, the boy immediately doesn't make sense as a hypothetical protagonist). He was also gone halfway into the episode rather than waiting the full episode out. EDIT: And yeah, as Key points out below...the title. Last edited by Florete on Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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It wasn't trying for that effect. That the MC is an executioner is right in the title, and as Nicholas pointed out, the episode drops indicators right from the start that Menou isn't what she seems. Hence, even though the series is using some initial bait-and-switch, that she ends up killing off the isekai kid isn't meant to be a plot-flipping surprise (unlike Talentless Nana, where it absolutely is), as the series was headed there all along. I have also read the first novel, and I encourage people to give at least the first episode a chance rather than just assuming they won't like it, as this is an excellent adaptation so far. Yes, Momo is a noxious character, and that won't get any better, but that behavior is only a small part of the series. The writing does plenty enough other things right to more than balance that out. The story uses a number of conceptually-interesting and definitely-not-agenda-driven ideas concerning isekai and has better world and mechanics-building than most. It also has a quite different feel to it than most other isekai titles. In short, I consider its first episode to be a success both as a stand-alone and as an adaptation. |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1392 |
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I'm of the exact opposite opinion. I thought Talentless Nana's first episode was terrible, specifically because it spends its whole first episode pretending to be a generic, cookie-cutter show and doesn't reveal anything about Nana's true intentions. By the end of that episode all you had to go on was the twist, because the preceding 20 minutes of character interaction was all stuff the show was only pretending to care about until it could throw it off a cliff. And frankly the twist just isn't that shocking or compelling, so by the end of it there was nothing that made me want to watch more of it.
With Executioner I actually know who Menou is for real. I know why she's doing what she does, how she feels about it on multiple levels, and I have a pretty good idea of her overall personality and major relationships. That's the kind of stuff that actually makes me want to watch more of a show. And I have all that specifically because the show doesn't commit to a full-length ruse about its own story that basically necessitates watching a second to actually know what it's about. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3650 |
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I also appreciated that Executioner got the killing out of the way half way through, but I would have appreciated it not being so clearly telegraphed to give it more oomph.
So was she always going to kill him or just once she assessed the danger of his power? Influencing a society to the point that the language changes seems a bit much, but I guess we're to infer that this was likely a forced change by a previously powered individual(s)? Throwing out one of the two summons also didn't make much sense. Wouldn't it have been better to keep both quiet, and have the one you don't want take the fall if you're discovered? Anyway, nitpicks aside, it was definitely a great premier and I'll be watching this as long as it doesn't tank in the next few episodes 
I also watched (and plan to continue watching) Aharen, which I thought was pretty funny. As long as the joke doesn't get run in to the ground, this should be a fun watch. Only weird thing was that the two MCs were basically isolated from the whole world. Raido had another seat mate to his right, but didn't say anything to him and no one in the class reacted to Aharen hugging him or anything else. Sure, there was that girl at the end who's presumably jealous, but it did make things a bit off while watching. |
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JennLegacy
Posts: 107 |
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Just watched Aharen. I tend to have a hard time vibing with slower paced comedies, but that was surprisingly very cute and pleasant. I really dig the vibe of the two protagonists. I doubt it was the creator's intentions, but they both read as very autistic coded to me
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1790 |
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I was curious how the anime of Aharen would turn out having already read the source material and yeah I can definitely understand people being bored by the anime's pacing. It's sort of a similar issue I had with Takagi san's anime where more often than not I'd find myself liking one short, but find myself already getting kind of tired of it by the 2nd one and then really wanting to go do something else by the third. Only a few times like in it's recent 3rd season did I ever feel like the full 22 minutes was worth it, where as I quickly tapped out of season one and just didn't bother with season two. It's really interesting how much I'm willing to read when it comes to stuff like this, but when it comes to watching it, I'm much more quick to tune out.
That said, I think Aharen's san's deal is more a matter of unsuccessfully walking a tightrope. Raidou is funny because he's utterly stone faced against total madness and insanity, and while yes, Aharen absolutely is your cute anime girl™ , that she's just as stone cold and capable of enacting such madness is what makes her funny and the both of them a fun duo. They're stoic dumbasses with barely any straight man character around to reel them back, but if you go too slow with it the impact of the jokes gets watered down bad, but if you went too fast they'd feel like a mismatch for the show. Might be fun to watch a few clips of it here or there but it just looks like a case of lacking execution, which is a pity but oh well, can't win em all I guess. When it comes to the source material I do think it can get a bit too repetitive so I'm not expecting the anime to make that any less of an issue for people. rip. |
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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Even as a big fan of the Teasing Master Takagi-san manga myself I have to admit, that the first season's pacing had its issues. It was rather slow and the skits with Mano, Mina and Yukari were kind of boring and not related with the main pair Nishikata & Takagi. The second season however vastly improved its pacing and was on a similar quality level as the third season which had some genuine great episodes, so I'd suggest you give the second season at least a shot. |
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Kirki
Posts: 296 |
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Aharen san looks boring from the thumbnail and reading the reviews kind of confirmed that. Also I know the intention is to just be cute, but I'm kind of tired and uncomfortable with how women are depicted as small children in these stories, both physically and mentally, especially compared to their male love interests. (Only judging from the artwork and the review content I see here, so I could be wrong I'll admit to that beforehand.) = Not going to watch.
The Executioner: Hmm... I admit the obligatory predatory lesbian archetype gives me the yikes. (This is hypocritical coming from someone who has read everything Murata Shinya has ever gotten his hands on, but a-ny-way...) On the other hand, I just recently finished watching the entirety of SAO, and I'm very much in the mood of seeing someone finally murder Kirito. Plus, I enjoyed Talentless Nana immensely. I think I'll check it out probably eventually. Kotaro Lives Alone: That's all out on Netflix. I binged it. What are you still doing here? Go watch it people! Engaging, funny, heart-warming, and exploring some serious stuff about families and relationships. Legend of The Galactic Heores: "I'm still alive. All of the people who made fun of me died... and I survived." The old OVAs are my favorite anime ever. Number 1. The new one might not be that charismatic but it's also plenty above average and the source material easily shines through. I'm so voting for it for the weekly reviews even if I'm the only one.  Also please let us all appreciate Julian Mintz's entire appearance as a tribute to Luke Skywalker!
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Catseyetiger
Posts: 779 |
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Not a big fan of this twisted show. The kid summoned had no clue he even had powers till the native showed him how to access them! Messed up cults killing people seems the flow of this anime. I will watch episode two before possibly dropping it. Also what with these video game like worlds? Did the authors play to many games?
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